Whether it is the OWLs test for fifth graders or the NEWTs test for seventh graders, the written test tests the theoretical level of the little wizards. In the practical part, what we see more is the application.
Just like the first test question that Harry encountered, most students could do it, such as making the wine glass flip over. But if you want to win the admiration of the examiner, you need to show something unique.
Because of this, Harry's questions may seem simple, but in fact they may not be easier to get a good score than the questions Ron got.
At the very least, if Ron can fill all five cups, his grades will definitely be good. It will not be like "making the wine glass somersault", and you will lose everyone if you are not careful.
Here, after Ron thought hard for a while, he suddenly thought of Maka's strange and amazingly powerful freezing magic. He was naturally beyond the reach of such unheard-of magic, but freezing a glass of water didn't bother him.
"Chill like ice."
When he waved his wand and tapped lightly on the cup filled with water, and after reciting a spell in a regular manner, the water in the cup suddenly began to "clack" from the rim of the cup he tapped. It started to ice.
"Floating into the sky."
After the initial freezing spell was completed, the second spell came out of his mouth with great caution. As the spell took effect successfully, the frozen solid ice cube jumped up from the cup and landed steadily on the table.
To be honest, Ron actually wanted to get started directly at the moment. But what is happening now is a practical examination of Charms. What if I touch it with my hands and the examiner deducts points without saying a word
"Get bigger quickly!"
The third spell is the expansion spell. This spell works best when applied to solid matter. If the water is not frozen in advance, even if he uses all his strength, it can only turn one cup of water into about two cups.
"Then... uh, it fell apart! Oh..."
Once here, Ron was a little confused. Although this spell can be found in the first-grade "Standard Spells - Elementary", it is considered a relatively easy-to-use spell. But just by looking at how it has been repeatedly explained and practiced in the following semesters, you can tell that this is a magic spell that is easy to learn but difficult to master.
To put it simply, it is not convenient to control the strength when cutting hard objects. If you are not careful, the things under the target will also "click" together.
This time, Ron's cutting spell was obviously flawed. Although the table was not in serious trouble, the enlarged lump of ice suddenly exploded. Two of the five pieces passed over the brim of the old witch examiner's hat opposite, and went straight to the other side diagonally opposite. Candidates went.
"S-be careful—" "Bang!"
That was Dean Thomas, who was in the same dormitory as Ron and Harry. He was a boy with black hair and dark skin. When the ice cubes flew towards the back of his head, he was trying to use magic to make the flower seedlings in the flower pot grow and bloom!
However, with a scream, Thomas' wand penetrated straight into the soil of the flowerpot. Immediately afterwards, there was a loud explosion and a large amount of fresh soil flew away, splashing several people nearby.
"Bah, bah..." Ron spat out the Saturnine in his mouth, and then said with an annoyed look on his face, "Sorry Dean, uh... I'm sorry, dear lady."
There was such a big commotion in the examination room, and Ron thought it was definitely over again. The Charms Theory test paper was not completed in the morning, and something like this happened again in the afternoon. The Charms course was completely hopeless.
Unexpectedly, the cold-faced old witch opposite just took off her hat and gently shook off the dirt on it, and then waved her hands expressionlessly.
"Mr. Ron Weasley, are you planning to give up?"
"Oh, I... can I continue?" Ron immediately said in surprise, "Uh... wait, I will continue to do it! That... float into the sky!"
Seeing that he could still continue to complete the test questions, Ron was immediately overjoyed. He hurriedly used a floating spell to recall the flying ice cubes, then put the five cut ice lumps into the cup one by one, and carefully started to melt the ice cubes using a fire-making spell.
In this exam, he never used any difficult spells from beginning to end. If you have to say which part here is the most difficult, it is probably the extremely basic "Fire Blazing".
Use the fire-making spell to warm the contents of the cup. Maka had used it in the Hog's Head Bar, and it was quite effective for heating butterbeer. So among those magic spell materials, he conveniently added this inconspicuous little trick.
Since those spells with a high learning threshold were difficult for Ron to use, he spent a lot of effort on such easy-to-learn spells. It can be seen that the effect of such a display in the exam is quite good.
At least, the cold-faced old witch opposite could not help but light up slightly when she saw this little trick of his.
After freezing a glass of water, it expanded and expanded, and finally it was cut and melted, so that the five empty glasses were barely filled with more than half of the glass. Although the expansion spell is time-sensitive, the application of this series of spells is enough for the examiner to give a good score.
After the old witch glanced at the cup, she picked up the noteboard with Ron's file and wrote a few words:
"The level of spell casting is above average, with the flexibility to apply multiple spells together. Specific spells (such as the fire-making spell) have clever application ideas and finer control capabilities."
After thinking about it for a moment, she added a little to the side: "I have an average mind and am not confident enough."
In fact, there are many ways to answer this question. If you're smart enough, you can actually fill five cups with one cup of water just by casting a shrinking spell on the cups. Of course, each student has different abilities and preferences, and the importance of intelligence, agility and hard work is naturally equal.
After that, Ron's practical exam continued without any surprises. When the old witch examiner finished marking and signing the files, Ron finally walked out of the auditorium door with a lot of anxiety.
"Ron, how are you?" Harry and Hermione who were waiting at the door saw him coming out and immediately approached him, "I heard Dean complaining just now, saying that your ice cube hit the back of his head and hurt him. Covered the examiner's face with mud..."
"Oh..." Ron said with a grimace when he heard this, "I think I have to go to Dean to apologize or something! I hope I didn't let him fail the exam..."
…
Not to mention that Ron was still frowning because of the whole day's "bad luck", but the exam in the auditorium was still going on! When the OWLs Charms practical exam is over, what follows is the graduates’ nightmare—the practical content of NEWTs.
As far as the theory test in the morning was concerned, everyone just took a test paper and a pen, and it passed in a hurry without seeing any difference. But in the afternoon practical exam, the gap between the two suddenly became apparent.
There was no need to go in to take a look. From then on until dusk, there were chaotic movements coming from the closed auditorium all the time. There were explosions, crashes, the sound of liquid flowing... you could even occasionally see the flickering light of the window, it was really lively.
Every once in a while, one or two seventh-grade students with either happy or worried expressions would come out of the door, and then the door would be closed tightly again.
Fortunately, there are not many students who can take NEWTs courses. Although everyone's exam time was obviously not short, when the setting sun illuminated the entire castle and cast a dazzling golden light, the whole day's bustle finally came to an end.
After seeing off the last student, the examiners in the auditorium packed up their things one after another. Maka, who was responsible for entertaining these old professors, also went inside with Professor Flitwick.
"I can't believe it. I thought those troublemakers would definitely cheat in the exam! But they actually completed the exam honestly..."
As they walked, the little Flitwick whispered to Maka, with a hint of surprise on his face.
"Hey," Maka smiled and said, "I have warned them both a long time ago that if they cheat, I will be the first to report it! These twins have pretty good abilities. If they take the exam carefully, their grades will not be good. Difference."
"Yes!" Professor Flitwick shook his head and said, "Those two children are just too noisy..."
"It was a little noisy..." Maka shrugged, "But now that they have graduated, Hogwarts will probably be much quieter... Believe me, Professor Flitwick, sooner or later we will miss their presence. Of those days!”
After that, he raised his head and nodded to the old wizards, and said with some respect: "Professor Marchban, Professor Tofty... You have worked hard today, please go to the side hall to have a rest! It will be a little while longer. Then you can enjoy a sumptuous dinner at Hogwarts!"
"Thank you, we are looking forward to it."
Ms. Marchban, who was leading the team this time, was wearing an old-fashioned wizard robe with plain tones and no decorations. She looked like a stingy old lady. She had neatly combed silver hair and a smile on her face, but her deep eyes were more calm.
But to be honest, this is actually an old lady who is easy to talk to, at least that's what Maka thinks - although she sometimes makes people feel too serious.
"Mr. McLean, if necessary, we can also help you restore the auditorium to its original state." She looked at the auditorium and said, "I also studied here many years ago... To be honest, I come here every year. Just looking at this place makes me feel several years younger!"